Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Serena Williams embarrassed by loss

Dubai: World number one and top seed Serena Williams gave herself a severe report card following her loss to Alize Cornet in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open late on Friday.

After falling to the 26th-ranked Cornet 6-4, 6-4 in just 82 minutes, Serena was very critical about her entire approach to the match.

“I haven’t felt good this whole week, to be honest, just from my first match. I felt I played good yesterday. I had to play well. If I’d have played like that today, I probably would have been better. I don’t know if I would have won, because I think Alize, she played really well, but I definitely think the scoreline would have been a little better,” Williams said.

“I started out extremely slowly. I have been actually looking at a turtle every day. I think it’s so cute. Maybe I was too influenced about by it. It’s a really cute turtle in the hotel.”

“I need to be able to play better than that if I want to be playing on this tour, on the professional tour. Or maybe I can go to amateurs,” she added.

The American star had not been planning to play in Dubai but, three days before the event started, she was handed a wild card like her older sister Venus from tournament director Salak Tahlak.

“Ah, I’m a wee bit embarrassed. She played really well. I just didn’t play today. I tried, though. I just kept hitting errors. I don’t think I have made that many errors in a match in I think at least three years, maybe four years,” she said.

However, the 31-year-old who became the oldest player to be the world number one when she reached the final at the Qatar Open a year ago, was convinced Friday’s loss was just one bad day at the office.

“I mean, it happens. I have been playing really, really solid for a long time. Today just wasn’t my day. She played a solid match. She knew someone was going to hit balls in the stands and just didn’t get the ball in play. I think she did that really well and it wasn’t my day,” she said.